King's Games the Commentaries

History, Gossip, and Painless Shakespeare: “King’s Games, The Commentaries,” brings to life the personalities and events leading to the fall of the last Plantagenet king of England, Richard III. In a series of historical and personal essays, the playwright condenses a lifetime of study into an easily understood overview of a tumultuous period of English history, as well as the creation of the modern verse play, “King’s Games, A Memoir of Richard III.” This is a comprehensive guide and reference resource containing three diverse types of timelines: an entertaining essay overview focused on the principal participants; military confrontations; and a year-by-year, month and day, breakdown encapsulating significant, influencing events from 1400 A.D. to Bosworth Field. Additionally, along with describing the research, and travails, in creating two separate versions of the play, the playwright shares insightful observations of the characters of key participants involved, as well as incidental thoughts on such diverse topics as Shakespearean hatchet jobs, understanding the reading and delivery of iambic pentameter, and the always fascinating private (if not astonishingly short-sighted) peccadilloes of royalty.